Near Riverbend: 11-Year-Old Shot Inside Her Home After Gunmen Open Fire

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Monday morning, friends and family of 11-year-old Arabian Gayles are grieving. She’s become the second child in a week’s time to be killed by gun violence in the city.

Arabian’s uncle says, “I was in the room just on the laptop listening to music and I just heard gunshots fired like multiple times, and then I heard my sister holler, “Not my baby.”

Just after midnight on Labor Day police believe multiple gunmen fired shots into a home on the 1300 block of General Ogden Street near the Riverbend. Detectives say more than a dozen bullet casings were recovered from the scene.

“The bullet went through this. It went right through it. It was in the bedroom.”

Now a makeshift memorial including a shot up teddy bear reminds neighbors of the horror that unfolded here. 11-year-old Arabian Gayles was probably not the intended target. Her uncle says she was just playing video games on the couch when bullets pierced her home. At least one shattered glass on the front door and struck her in the head.

“When I picked her up and grabbed her, her head flopped like that on my arm; that’s how I was covered up with blood last night. Parts of her meat were hanging on my arm, and then when I finally sat her in my lap she was making a little humming noise. I said to my brother-in-law, I said, drive, push it, push it, she’s still breathing, she might going to make it, she might going to make it.”

Arabian Gayles made it to the hospital, but died a few hours later. Her 11-year-old cousin and a 38-year-old man were also shot. Police say they are expected to make a full recovery.

“This one right here is the worst one ever.”

Arabian’s uncle doesn’t think he’ll ever move forward after what he’s been through. He says their entire family is in shock on a holiday they had planned to celebrate.

So far the NOPD has not named any suspects.

Crimestoppers has increased the reward for information leading to an arrest to $5,000. You can call your anonymous tips in to 504.822.1111.